Can you believe it’s been over two years since the first season of Andor premiered? Or wait, here’s an ever more mind-boggling thing to contemplate — we’re rapidly approaching the 10-year anniversary of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Over the course of the past decade, following the 2015 arrival of the first of the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, the Star Wars universe has vastly expanded with an explosion of content — films, live-action television, and animated series galore. And while I would be remiss not to mention my endless love for The Mandalorian, Tony Gilroy’s Rogue One and Andor are by and far the most impressive and integral new additions to the franchise as a whole. And Andor‘s second season only further cements my opinion on this.
Andor‘s 12-episode second season is set to begin airing on April 22, picking up after the events of the first season and filling the rest of the gaps in the years leading up to Rogue One. I’ve watched this new season in its entirety prior to its impending release. While this review will not contain any specific spoilers beyond my general reactions, if you’re going to take anything from reading this today, let it be this: if you love Star Wars, you need to watch Andor season 2. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Circling back to the aforementioned deluge of Star Wars content, you may or may not be caught up on every new corner that’s been carved out in recent years in a galaxy far, far away. But regardless of if you’ve seen Obi-Wan Kenobi or Ahsoka, if you only made it halfway through The Acolyte or if you’re still trying to find time to watch Skeleton Crew, or if you’re maybe just burnt out from trying to keep up with all the new shows and you’re taking a break from space wizards and laser swords, do yourself a favor and do not skip Andor.
Every piece of media expansion in the Star Wars universe is fun and enjoyable in its own right. But Andor, and Rogue One, are arguably the most quintessential of lore drops. They exist not just as entertainment, but as tools that successfully exemplify the true depth of the events of A New Hope and the subsequent films in the original trilogy like never before.
Andor season 2 is Star Wars at its darkest, its grittiest, its most unforgiving. It is heartbreaking and harrowing, and it is wholly unapologetic with the way in which it forces audiences to confront the true evil of the Empire head-on without looking away for even a moment.
It is unflinching in its portrayal of real consequences, in its display of characters with emotions that feel the most real and human that Star Wars has ever been. Season 2 shirks all notions of looking at the Rebellion through rose-colored glasses; we are forced to confront the brutal and emotional reality of scrambling to find a shred of hope amidst the devastation of an all-consuming darkness on the horizon. We are given front row seats to the Empire’s horrifying transition from a foothold in the galaxy … to a chokehold.
Andor season 2 left me in shambles, emotionally frayed and gutted to the point of tears in a way far beyond how any other piece of Star Wars media has ever made me feel (with Rogue One and the first season still being the closest runners-up, naturally).
Season 2 is also a further reminder that while the series may be called Andor, Diego Luna’s Cassian is only one of the many integral characters in the series. Andor is symbolic, and Cassian’s journey from unwilling nobody to remarkable hero serves to represent every brave soul in the galaxy that played a part — no matter how large or small — in baring their teeth and digging their heels into the ground in the face of the Empire’s reign.
Now as a disclaimer, if you don’t immediately find yourself pulled in this season from the start, be patient! The first three or four episodes feel like they’re really there to set the stage, showing audiences where the show’s cast of characters currently find themselves in the wake of the explosive events that season 1 ended on. In a way, these episodes are like the calm eye of the storm. But for the record … once I reached the fifth episode, I couldn’t stop (I had to finish the rest in a single sitting).
That’s all to say that following a critically acclaimed first season that already reshaped the world of Star Wars as we know it, lightning has struck twice with Andor season 2, which truly sticks the landing in every sense of the word.
The first three episodes of the second and final season of Andor will premiere on Tuesday, April 22 on Disney+.
